"I think we played against exactly the same team we played against Stoke here."

Stoke managed to pick up a 1-0 win by exploiting City on the counter, so the approach was not too ill-conceived from Mourinho, but he was clearly frustrated by the 61-year-old's criticism.

"Many times he says he never speaks about me and my team but he keeps doing the same thing," Mourinho said.

"I am the one that does as he says. I don't comment on his words. Don't ask me about his words, I am not interested in that."

Last season Chelsea picked up a 1-0 victory over City, as they struck on the counter to great effect.

The pattern of that match was almost repeated yesterday, when Andre Schurrle put Mourinho's side into the lead, but City did manage to hit back thanks to Frank Lampard.

The Chelsea legend came back to haunt his former club, but Mourinho is likely to be happier with the point than Pellegrini.

City are already playing catch-up with the London side after their impressive start, and a draw would have been seen as a good result by the Portuguese boss before the game started.

Chelsea, in general, have played with a more attacking style so far this season, but Mourinho is famed for his different tactical approaches depending on the opposition's strengths and it will be interesting to see whether he reverts to a more counter-attacking style against the title chasers for the remainder of the season.

John Verrall

John is a sports journalism graduate from Staffordshire University. He is a huge football fan and a minute-by-minute writer for UEFA.com, as well as being a freelance writer for Sports New Media. John has also seen his work been published by the likes of The Guardian, World Soccer and Shoot Magazine over the course of his bourgeoning journalism career so far. He has a particular expertise in all things to do with the Football League – and is a passionate Peterborough United fan.